I have a 1959 brick ranch with the original bathroom tile and tub. My wife is insisting on new “colors” – like the peach tile with brown trim is unbearable. My defense – ” If we wait long enough – the colors will be in style again” has worn thin. The thought of breaking out the thick set tile walls and floors is sickening. Busting up the cast iron bath tub (scrubbed to bare metal) is heart breaking. Is there a refinishing option that is worth doing? Is there a finish that will stick to the glazed tile finish? The rest of the house is sound – so a Band-Aid paint job is not an option. Is there a refinish system that will surpass the “lipstick on a pig” point? A new wife is not an option either.
Please help. G_ranch
Replies
How about keep the wife, sell the house? ;-)
-- J.S.
You're no help!
The tub refinishing works depending on how picky you are. I would rather use them to touch up some chips then do the entire tub, but if you are not too picky the results will work for you.
As far as painting tile walls and floors? That is exactly what you described, lipstick on a pig.
Do the hard work and get the rewards, rip out the tile and retile the floor and walls for the best results.
Next step down, rip out the tile walls in the tub and put up fiberglass suround.
Use an embossing leveller on the tile floor and put a manufacturered floor over it like Pergo.
Mike,
I'm with ya on the floor over. The wall tile demo will be a b---h. It's a thick set on metal lath, on wood studs with plastered wall board on the back side. I guess I could renovate the bedrooms after patching all that plasterboard. I know .. I know - you got to break some eggs to make omelets, but this is over a soon to be in vogue again tile color. I give it 2 years and Peach will be all the rage.
G_ranch
Also, I forgot, but there are companies that will do a sort of incasement of your bathtub and surround, they measure and come back with I believe it is a fiberglass tub that goes over your tub and over your walls. I have only seen the displays which show the cut away of the new product over and the old tub and surround underneath. If they work as well as they look, that might be a painless option. But with painless, comes the pain of the wallet being emptied.
Out East, there are tons of pro refinishing shop that come on-site, acid etch the old tub and re-finish; but I really don't know how good they are either. I think the trick is to pull the lowest layer of tile out so the finish goes way back, so the new tile will hide/protect the finish edge; same w/ drains. About $300; much cheaper than replacing, and the new tub would be much less solid than your cast iron one anyway.
I would like to here if anyone has any experience with this-
Ranch-
A friend of mine recently painted tiles in a bathroom similar to what ytou are describing. He first sanded the walls with a medium paper, then primed with BIN 1-2-3 primer, and then topcoated with a good oil base paint.
This isn't meant to be a long term solution, but should give you several years ( or until those colors come back into fashion).
I'm a bit out of my league here, but we tiled over old tiles in our last bathroom, then edged with bullnosed tiles. Worked like a charm on the walls - don't know if it'd work on floors, where you'd have a problem with the additional depth. "There is no such thing as the "Queen's English". The property has gone into the hands of a joint stock company and we own the bulk of the shares!"
Mark Twain, Following the Equator, 1897
Did you have to prepare the old tile before applying the new? Did the tile stick with just a tile adheasive or grout?
No, and yes. I have the information somewhere - it's in one of Terence Conran's DIY books. I'll see if I can dig it out this evening, and post more details. I do recall that it was such a relief to us that the solution was so simple - we really didn't need to mess and hassle of removing ugly old tiles."There is no such thing as the "Queen's English". The property has gone into the hands of a joint stock company and we own the bulk of the shares!"
Mark Twain, Following the Equator, 1897
Hi, sorry, I promised to get back to you with more info on tiling over old tiles. I can't find the DIY book we used, but did a google search and came up with this:
http://www.diydoctor.org.uk/projects/tileovertile.htm
Hope it's helpful! And good luck..."There is no such thing as the "Queen's English". The property has gone into the hands of a joint stock company and we own the bulk of the shares!"
Mark Twain, Following the Equator, 1897
Sandra,
Thanks for getting that info - now I have no excuses. You women are great at that!
G_ranch
Um, I am not so sure that would last too long, even if you sanded the hell out of the old tile; tile mastic isn't going to want to stick to glazed tile.
sorry, didn't realize u had done this yourself until I read back; hopefully you will get some service out of your fix, if it is sticking now it might be ok for a while.
Worked fine for at least five years, then we sold the house."There is no such thing as the "Queen's English". The property has gone into the hands of a joint stock company and we own the bulk of the shares!"
Mark Twain, Following the Equator, 1897
Somebody could get rich in my neighborhood - refinishing tile and tubs. Thanks for the input.
g_ranch
I've had sinks/appliances refinished by a friend of mine who owns a "Miracle Method" franchise. (I know...hokey name.) Instead of acid, which is nasty, this company has a proprietary primer that is...well, miraculous. I've had a plastic/marble composite bathroom sink recoated, a metal appliance cover changed in color, and an antique, integral-drainboard, cast-iron sink repaired where a falling vase chipped a double fist-sized chunk. Also various chips on enameled stovetops, and i even had him recoat an elongated wooden toilet seat cover that was no longer available in the color i needed, which had color-shifted so that it didn't match the toilet. Some of this work is almost 20 years old, in daily use, and still looks good. Of course, you can't use brillo pads on it...
I've seen his work on tubs and tiles, too, and the results look as good as new, plus you can have whatever color your heart desires, including all the matching shades for Kohler/Am Standard/etc. brands, so that you can get the tub recoated, then change out the cheaper items such as toilet and sink for a matching suite.
He prefers not to do kitchen sinks because of water left standing in them, and refuses toilets for the same reason, but tubs with intermittent standing water hold up well. (He started out refinishing clawfoots.) One of the tricky spots is around the drain: if the drain is not unscrewed and pulled up to clean around the edge of the flange thoroughly and coated, you can get water to work under that area and start lifting the coating. A good painter will do this part right, and also pull the old caulking before recoating.
Not all recoating people and products are created equal, so get refs if you go this route.
Edited 6/16/2004 4:21 pm ET by SPLINTIE
One of the best things in life for a man is a happy wife . If shes not happy , no ones happy.
Now I have to ask the question, what do you care what color as long as she is taking care of you ? Ya gotta rate stuff sometimes and I would trade color for some other things.
Tim Mooney
Tim,
Amen to the happy wife statement. Tempered expectationsin getting all these projects done is all I'm asking for. I'm not involved in the color selection process. I have no opinion when it comes to color or decorating decisions and that's OK. What matters is those 52 weekends in the year - less the 12 weekends of holidays - 12 weekends of birthdays, anniversaries and family reunions - 12 weekends of yard work - 3 weekends of backpacking trips (with wife) - leaving 13 weekends to renovate and maintain this old house. I'm just going to have to give up my paying job top get all these projects done. Sounds better every time I hear it.
G_ranch
"The thought of breaking out the thick set tile walls and floors is sickening. Busting up the cast iron bath tub (scrubbed to bare metal) is heart breaking."
A C L
Accept it, Change it, or Leave it
Your wife won't accept it and you can't leave it cause she isn't going to be happy. So you are going to have to Change it.
Get going! Make the wife happy! Life is short to spend as long as you have making lame excuses. Get going-make the wife feel special.
45 years is a long time and those colors are not going to be back if you wife doesn't like 'em ......
If you can't afford to hire it out at least hire the demo out. You probably know someone who needs a job this summer even for a day or two. Go find out how to set tile and if you "can't" do that then hire the rest of it out.
Go visit your local tile store and ask which contractors are spoken well of. Get his number, call him up and get a bid. Take your wife on a date to pick out color of tile. Suggest that you pick out some paint to freshen up the rest of the bathroom. You'll score big points.....
If the tile guy doesn't do tubs he will know a plumber who does. If your tub is "scrubbed to bare metal" as you say it is time for a new tub. Get a nice one with jets for two....
mmm
I've seen a few of those bathtub refinish jobs. They're OK if you're not too picky. Personally I think its crap. I would'nt do it in my house.
Mav,
This color thing is going to drive me to an expensive demolition, bump out, reframe, re-plumb and retile project. Wonder if the wife will like the noise, dust, out of order bathroom better than the existing tile color. Maybe if she writes the check she'll feel better.
G_ranch
The way I managed my bath remodel w/ the DW (pink tile, bath, floor, and all walls) was to play up how much time and effort it will take, while all the while telling her that she will get exactly what she asks for; the only requirement on her part would be infinite patience. 1 +1/2 years and I am almost done, I swear.
NO Way. A year and a half. She'd flip out. My body would be decomposed by then - thankfully I've already poured a slab out back for my wood shop. Was hoping my war chest would last long enough so I'd have a dog house to go to. This bathroom renovation is sounding more expensive every time I open a e-mail.
I'm praying for a rebound in the late 50's early 60's styles and color craze. At least we don't have pink or blue fixtures. Those colored fixtures was a bad idea. I work for a demolition company. The first thing we'd do before wrecking a house - grab the toilet tank lids. A white one is a easy $ 20 - pink, blue or gold - $40 every day -whether it fit or not, just had to be close on the color. Nobody can find colored tank lids to match. Kinda held hostage - replacing a toilet or pay the $40.
Well, I guess I am doing something right; it's our only bath, too. For a year the shower was bare drywall with a round 2.5' diameter shower curtain holder srewed into the stud. Everything was pink, full tiled walls all the way around, floor tile and all pink fixtures. My own grandmother did it (chose the color, not the work) in 1970. She told me before then it was "just awfull, all white, with one of those tubs on legs."
Actually, including paying a tile guy ($700)(I wimped out, never done tile, and there was a window to cut; I was trying to get up the nerve to do it, that's why it took so long) it only cost about $1400. And now it's all white, baby.
two words ...
Labor Ready.
one more ...
dumpster.
all ya need is a phone.
have the dumpster there ....
when the labor ready guys show up ... point to the tools of destruction ... the dumpster ... the shovels and brooms ... and the shop vac.
prepare to stand back and supervise ... though not too close ...
as ya might get some dust on yer shoes.
or ... hire someone like me ...
and I'll call the labor ready guys and stand there supervising until the demo stops and the construction starts.
Jeff
Buck Construction, llc Pittsburgh,PA
Artistry in Carpentry